Ruts after the job is done

Hi all, I'm in TX. I just started and have done a few jobs. I seem to always not have enough dirt left over and it leads to ruts or lines left in the customers lawn. Obviously I can carry several bags of soil with me to fill in afterwards, but I just was wondering if I am doing something wrong with the digging. I have the same problem when I use a trencher or dig by shovel.

I know you guys don't plow down there, but thats one of the reasons I like plows.

If your trenches are low now, at least that means your tamping them well. A lot of guys will mound and not tamp and you end up with a ditch in a year.

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I will have you know that The Great State Of Texas is very diverse! (soil wise that is). Here in Big D we have soil left over quite often in our blackland clay but go east or west of here and you get into red sand or east TX sand. Austin area is a lot of rock. We water our ditches in. If the grass grows over before it settles it looks really tacky.

Hi all, I'm in TX. I just started and have done a few jobs. I seem to always not have enough dirt left over and it leads to ruts or lines left in the customers lawn. Obviously I can carry several bags of soil with me to fill in afterwards, but I just was wondering if I am doing something wrong with the digging. I have the same problem when I use a trencher or dig by shovel.

thanks in Advance

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Hi Sheldon,
I'm from TX and I do have a license.
That's one thing they really didn't teach us in irrigation school right?LOL

I used to have the same problem. I thought the dirt needed to be flat leveled, so I would haul some off. After a few days I'd get a call back because the trench line sunk in. Just leave it mounded up a few inches across the whole line, it settles down easy enough on it's own.

If it's real bad get a piece of pvc with a water hose adaptor and slice the pvc end at 45 degrees, jab the mounds and flood the trenches after you've set the heads.

Also you can set the heads and run the system before you backfill.
That might help too, to settle the dirt.